Too Late
by Dark-Corners
Summary: On the anniversary of Seimei's death his mother finally snaps. Ritsuka calls for help but where is it? contains soubixritsuka and child abuse
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer; I don't own any of it, none whatsoever 

Too late... 

Ritsuka listened intently to the voices below him. They were shouting again and it was still about him. Normally he wouldn't have listened but today was different. It was the anniversary of his brother, Seimei's, death. Seimei was one of the few things Ritsuka could remember anything about before his amnesia. The conversation downstairs indicated his mother was taking the anniversary rather badly. To tell the truth Ritsuka was scared out of his mind.

Every time his parents had an argument like this his father would leave for a day so, as to not lose his temper but his mother did no such thing and Ritsuka was who she took her frustrations out on. She would be screaming, mostly, that he wasn't 'her' Ritsuka.

The argument had escalated. It was worse than any Ritsuka had ever heard before, his mother was screaming and there seemed to be a lot of china being broken.

Suddenly there was the slam of the door as his father left the house. Ritsuka started to tremble in fear; it was only a matter of time before his mother came upstairs. He listened for more breaking of plates, as she took out the worst of her anger, but it never came. The silence frightened him more than anything else in the world at that moment. If the brunt of her anger was not taken out on the plates he didn't know if he would survive this encounter.

Ritsuka was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life, he needed Soubi. Hadn't Soubi said to call and he would always pick up? Not that he had always in the past mind you. Risuka realized suddenly that he hadn't been listening for his mother and felt his heart accelerate as he heard her on the stairs. Frantically he picked up his cell and hit the speed dial for Soubi.

'Ring ringring ring ringring' for an instant he was scared that Soubi wouldn't pick up but...

"Hello"

Ritsuka heart exploded in relief, Soubi would save him, he was an adult. His mother began to pound on his door.

"Soubi, please I need your help"

"Kinda busy right now Ritty do it urself"

'what was this? Soubi using slang and slurring? It just wasn't him.' Thought Ritsuka. The pounding on the door increased

"Please Soubi; please I need you to help me please. She'll kill me, please!!" Ritsuka begged his fighter,

"Nah do it yerrself. Don't wanna help, go 'way" and with that the line went dead. Horror crashed in waves around Ritsuka's heart. Soubi had hung up on him, he didn't want to help, he didn't care if Ritsukawas killed.

The door finally gave way to the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. It was his mother but she was smiling at him, not a warm kind-hearted smile but a smile that told him he was going to die very soon.

Survival instincts kicked in at that moment; if Soubi wasn't going to help him he was going to help himself. Ritsuka lunged for the window but it was too far for him to reach. His mother caught him round the waist and pinned him down. Catching his arms she tied them to the bedpost so he was pulled into as upright position, all the time babbling to his mother to stop.

"Please mum please! You don't need to do this. This isn't right, please, stop it!"

"You deserve this!" his mother uttered harshly, "I want my Ritsuka back"

As he continued to beg her she turned away from him and spotted the phone on the floor. Picking it up she turned to him and said,

"Trying to call for help were you? It's pointless you know. No one cares enough to come and save you."

Ritsuka hung his head, not denying the truth in the statement because Soubi, for all his promises of love and affection, didn't really care. He wouldn't save him when he needed it most.

"Let's see who you were calling and give them one last chance to save you, not that they will."

Hope sprang in Ritsuka's heart again. Maybe this time Soubi would save him. Maybe this time he would care.

Ritsukas mother pressed redial on his cell reading who it was calling. Ritsuka prayed that Soubi would pick up and come and save him.

"You have been redirected to the messaging service for..." Ritsukas' hope smashed into tiny pieces.

"Hmmm seems your savior doesn't even want to speak to you, well how about we leave him a message".

If Ritsuka had been scared before, he was petrified now. His mother had finally gone over the edge, she was insane and she was going to kill him. He tuned back into what she was saying past the thumping of his heart and the roaring in his ears.

"Hello soubi, I take it that you do not like Ritsuka very much as you aren't picking up so you will understand what I am about to do" she had moved whist she was talking to pickup one of the kitchen knives she had brought upstairs with her. He hadn't even seen them before! How long had she been planning to kill him? Ritsuka started to hyperventilate. Too afraid to scream for help. He was going to die today by the hand that had raised him, even if he couldn't remember it. She approached him with the knife whist continuing to speak to Soubi's messaging service.

"I thought that as someone who hated him you would appreciate hearing this as he obviously called for help that you were unwilling to give".

'She was right,' he thought "nobody cared and Soubi, who said that he loved him, who he had fought people from Seven Moons with, who he was sure he had fallen for, didn't care." At that moment Ritsuka accepted his fate. All Soubi words of 'believe in me' and 'don't worry' were washed from his mind as he accepted death.

"And now we get to hear him scream" his mothers words came to him as he, pulled from his thoughts to remember the situation, saw her above him. The knife, in her left hand, plunged forward slicing his flesh as easily as it would warm butter. The pain was all consuming as he opened his mouth as screamed, a bloodcurdling scream. His mother dragged the knife in his lower abdomen across and upwards as blood gushed out over her hand and onto the previously white carpet. Ritsuka felt nothing but pain. Before a minute had passed he felt his heart begin to slow, unable to deal with the massive shock to his system. He heard one last thing from his mother addressed at him rather than the phone in her hand.

"You see Ritsuka no one cares for you, no one loves you, you have lived alone and you die as such".

Then Ritsuka knew no more as his heart finally stopped.

Soubi held back a groan as he lifted his head. His brain felt like it was trying to escape his skull. He staggered to the bathroom and dry swallowed some painkillers, trying to recall anything about night before. Suddenly it came to him, the reason he had practically inhaled a bottle of vodka, it was the anniversary of Seimei's death yesterday. He wondered how Ritsuka was taking it. The name triggered something in his memory.

'Ritsuka! He had called!' Soubi tried to remember what he said to the young boy, but it evaded him. He looked for his phone deciding to call Ritsuka back. Soubi glanced down at his phone to see that he had a message from his beloved. Dialing the messaging service he waited for the message...

'Call received at 8; 26pm transferred to voicemail' Soubi cringed, he had virtually hung up on Ritsuka. This was not good, he had promised he would always pick up and now he hadn't, deliberately. Ritsuka was not going to be pleased.

"Hello Soubi," .

'what this wasn't Ritsuka!' he thought, in sounded vaguely familiar though. Soubi wondered how they knew his name but then reminded himself that this was Ritsukas phone so it would have come up at the beginning of the call. Soubi continued to listen to the message.

"I take it that you do not like ritsuka very much"

'what where was this woman getting her facts' Soubi exclaimed in his head, 'I love Ritsuka more than because I have been ordered to' . Soubi had fallen in love with the active teen. Why would this person think he didn't like him? Something bad was going on he could feel it.

"As you aren't picking up" aah so that was why they though he disliked Ritsuka

"So you will understand what in am about to do". Fear cascaded around him with that one statement. What was this woman about to do?? What had they done with his love, his Ritsuka?

"I thought that as someone who hated him you would appreciate hearing this as he obviously called for help that you were unwilling to give" WHAT?! That was what Ritsuka had called about? He had refused to help. Soubi couldn't believe it, he had promised! Frantically he searched his brain to place the voice, then it hit like a ton of bricks Ritsukas mother. The fear inside him tripled, what had happened to Ritsuka? Soubi knew that his mother didn't think he was her real son but surely nothing that bad could have happened, could it?

"And now we get to hear him scream" Soubi heart dropped out at that moment the horror of the situation setting in. Questions ran through his mind what had she done to Ritsuka, where was he, and lastly, was he even alive?

The next sound that came out of the phone was the most horrific and terrible sound he had ever heard. It was a scream, and not just any scream it was an ear-piercing, blood-curling scream and worst of all it was Ritsuka.

Soubi heard the final sentence directed at ritsuka and broke down. His beautiful Ritsuka thought that no one cared and had died thinking that. Undiluted fear and emotional pain ran through Soubi's body he had been trained to handle physical pain but emotionally? He was weak and this was killing him. The last thing on the end of the message was the slow breathing of who he knew to be Ritsuka before it finally stopped.

A/n; I have had some complaints about the grammar, so I went back over this. I was slightly horrified at how poor some parts of it were, so this is the grammatically correct, slightly better version. Thanks to all who reviewed. I have taken your comments onboard.

Please review. If you think its good I'll write more. If not, constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer; I STILL don't own any of it, none whatsoever

Chapter Two

Almost screaming in denial, Soubi let the phone fall from his hand. It couldn't be true, Ritsuka wasn't, couldn't be, dead. No it was a trick it must be a trick. Soubi tried to convince himself that this was the solution, it was a trick it had to be, please.

As Soubi's feet pounded along the pavement his mind replayed the scream that had been on the phone. He new he was torturing himself with it but he couldn't sop. The utter agony in that scream kept popping up in his mind.

He reached Ritsuka's street in no time. He approached it more slowly than usual as though afraid of what might lie inside. Climbing to Ritsuka window as normal he tried to convince himself that it would all be fine that nothing would be wrong and that his Ritsuka would just shout at him for entering his room so early on a Sunday morning.

Praying this would be the case Soubi lifted the latch on the windows and entered the room.

If it could have done his heart would have dropped out of his chest at what lay before him. The room was in chaos. There had obviously been a struggle but that wasn't what was plaguing Soubi. No it was the amount of blood on the floor. There was so much of it! But there was no body. Hope sprang in Soubi heart, overriding the overwhelming sense of guilt. Maybe this wasn't Ritsuka's blood maybe it was a setup maybe ha hadn't failed to protect his love.

Bending down on one knee he placed his fingers in the blood and brought them to his mouth. Soubi hesitated terrified of what testing that blood might confirm, but it had to be done so he tentatively licked his crimson finger. The results had Soubi shaking his head in denial this was Loveless's blood, unmistakably.

With the realization that this was no trick or game came wave upon wave of guilt, crashing and frothing around Soubi's heart. The feelings of helplessness and failure almost overwhelmed Soubi as he thought of how he had not come to Ritsuka's aid but just as he was about to be lost to his feelings he remembered that there was no body. Screaming hoarsely in rage at the thought of what they might have done to Ritsuka's remains he ploughed down the stairs, his magic and power reacted to the enormity of the feelings in the fighter.

Tearing across the living room in a blind rage Soubi swept into the kitchen. Upon seeing Ritsuka's mother cooking breakfast as normal he lost his temper and attacked her.

Flying at her he pinned her against the fridge as she sputtered and gasped, the breath having been stolen from her lungs.

'Where did you put Ritsuka?' Soubi hissed menacingly. 'Where did you put him?'

'What, what are you talking about?' she stuttered. 'Ritsuka has been dead for years'

Yelling inarticulately Soubi screamed at her, 'NO HE HASN'T WHERE DID YOU PUT HIM?'

'NOWHERE' she screamed back despite being pinned between a hard cold fridge and an equally unyielding Soubi. 'I just destroyed the imposter, you should be happy, everybody should BE HAPPY, I threw his body away by the south part of the river. It's not like anyone will miss it'

Soubi's emotions played across his face in a rare moment of loss of self control. Absolute rage was prominent amongst them and Ritsuka's mother got the feeling she had said something wrong, very wrong.

Soubi screamed out denying what she was saying before he lost all thoughts except vengeance. Soubi bodily threw the woman in his arms backward n to the counter. She inadvertently hit her head against the tap knocking her self out.

Soubi ran out of the front of the house towards the south river. Moving faster and ore swiftly than he ever had before he fixed on his destination. Perhaps Ritsuka, his Ritsuka was still alive perhaps he could save him. Somewhere in the back of Soubi's mind, the part that had been conditioned not to feel, told him he was in denial, that he had heard Ritsuka die but he wasn't listening. Soubi was only listening to the pounding of his own heart and the sound of his feet hitting the floor.

Soubi reached the south river and scanned the area for any sign of Ritsuka. Where was his sacrifice? Skidding down the embankment he stopped right next to the edge of the river, breathing still ragged he never the less started to call out for Ritsuka.

Looking around Soubi spotted something darker on the bank and ran towards it. When he reached it he fell to his knees, here on the bank was Ritsuka's blood. It was obvious he'd been rolled down the bank and fallen in the water.

Soubi scanned out across the water but there was no sign of a body. At that moment Soubi realized he had failed. He. Had. Failed. Again. Except this time it had been someone he loved it had been Ritsuka.

Falling on to the grass he collapsed in on himself as though his body would no longer hold up all the grief he held inside. Soubi let the feelings of guilt, failure, loss and helplessness wash over him as he did what he had not done since his first beating in seven moons, he cried. And cried. Tears streamed down his cheeks his eyes reddening as he stared catatonically out across the water. He carried on staring until he became numb inside. Laying on the bank he stayed that way until Kio came out looking for him and dragged his home.

Ritsuka awoke in a blindingly white place. 'Hmm funny' he thought t himself 'never thought it'd be this white assuming I've gone to heaven that is maybe I don't deserve heaven. I mean, nobody loves or even likes me really'

'Now now young man we'll have no more thoughts like that here' a voice drifted from behind him. Risuka spun around to see four of the most powerful looking people ever. Two men and two women. They looked very formidable but yet they still gave out a sense of comfort. Ritsuka didn't know quite what to think.

'Wh..wh..where am I?' Ritsuka stuttered out.

'Surely you remember what happened?' answered one of the four.

'Umm, yeah…my m… I mean I got stabbed', he couldn't quite bring himself to say his mother had stabbed him. 'so I'm dead?'

'Yes dear,' one of the women in the group said soothingly 'you're dead.'

Well that was blunt Ritsuka thought.

'But on the upside' one of the men butted in 'it's not permanent'

A/N: Good? Bad? More? Please tell me. Credit for parts of the ideas in this chapter goes to NinjaxOfxThexNight.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer; I STILL STILL don't own any of it, none whatsoever

Chapter Three

As Kio made breakfast for two he pondered, it wasn't the meaning of life that had him perplexed, no he was far to shallow for that. At the moment he was thinking about Soubi.

Last night he had found him curled up on the floor next to the river and some blood stains but when he had tried to get him to speak about what was going on or what had happened, all he had gotten was silence. So being the faithful friend that he was he had dragged Soubi home and put him down o the bed.

Kio watched the bacon sizzle wondering what could have possibly made the normally stoic Soubi so torn up inside.

Tiptoeing back to Soubi's room Kio peered inside trying to get a glimpse of Soubi face but it soon became apparent that it was far too dark for any such spying, giving up Kio headed back to the art room to start on the project he had been set.

'Wh…wh…what do you mean 'not permenant'' damn he seemed to be making a habit of this stuttering thing Ritsuka sighed to himself as he finished the sentence.

'well what my dear friend Genichi' here she glared pointedly at the green-eyed man 'meant to say was that you are dead but you're not meant to be so we are going to send you back' she ended as though commenting on some lovely flowers she had seen.

This confused Ritsuka what did she mean 'wasn't meant to be'? if they were sending him back then why was he here?

'ahh well to answer your last question' What!! Ritsuka was sure he didn't speak the last question. He continued listening to the green-eyed man anyway. 'you are her because we are going to train you, loveless, you will be the best'

'but, what I'm a sacrifice right?' Ritsuka said suddenly unsure

'well yes and no, you can be either or both'

'and your going to train me' Ritsuka asked, highly sceptical.

'well yes'

About half way through his project Kio heard a noise from back in the living room, poking his head around the door to investigate ha came upon a scene that pulled at his heart. It was Soubi and he was on the sofa crying his eyes out. Kio opened the door hurriedly and ran to his friend, he knew it was the anniversary of Seimei's death today and figured that was the reason for the tears.

Soubi heard rather than saw Kio coming towards him but he just couldn't bring himself to care. His darling his love Ritsuka was gone and he was never coming back. Just thinking this made more fountains of grief well up inside of him. Feeling Kio arms around him he stiffened before letting go of his fears. Crying into Kio's chest he tried to explain, disjointedly, about Ritsuka's murder but Soubi wasn't quite sure Kio had understood.

Listening to Soubi cry into his chest Kio picked up on a few words the most alarming being

'Ritsuka…death…blood …mother …abuse' oh course it didn't take Kio long to connect the points and when he did he nearly wept. He knew Soubi must be serious for him to

have reacted like this. Kio may have teased Soubi about being a pervert but really he had understood about falling in love with the child and he could see exactly how he had done it. thinking about Ritsuka had not helped Kio keep his feelings about his death at bay Kio could now feel the tears streaming down his face.

Soubi finally quieted on the outside but on the inside he was still a tirade of emotions. Thinking about Ritsuka Soubi remembered his voice. It was funny how these memories he had taken for granted were now slipping away. He could no longer picture Ritsuka's blush or his scolding and his voice was slowly fading from his mind. Noooo Soubi thought screaming at the thoughts he had to have them he needed to remember.

What did he have of Risuka's voice? The message!

Fast as lightening, displaying all his power and grace, Soubi stood and ran for the phone. Seeing Kio following him he pressed play. He didn't care if he was torturing himself with the scream it was the only part of Ritsuka he had left.

Kio listened in horror to the message on the phone and he was shaking by the time it was over. That scream, it had been so pain filled and final. Kio thought about Ritsuka's mother, she was going down for this. Picking up the phone from Soubi frozen hands he started on his way to the police station. It was time for somebody to visit the cells.

Risuka bowed to the four majestic people in front of him. In the past year they had taught him everything he knew: magic weapons, hand to hand combat, spell tactics, battle analysis, everything he could possibly need. He was very powerful and virtually unstoppable and he knew it. Ritsuka could handle pain and battle situations, he needed to for his mission down on earth. Now though it was time to go back to where he belonged. Time passed differently here so he had probably only been gone for a few months back home. He wondered if Soubi missed him, probably not, he hadn't come and saved him when he had needed it most had he.

Ritsuka though for all his training was still very emotionally vulnerable sure he could hide it better than anyone but the vulnerability was still there. Ritsuka wondered what seeing Soubi again might do to him, to see the one person that abandoned him; his reaction might be anyone of countless emotions. Turning away from the group in front of him he passed his magic into an open space and produced a portal to the mortal realm. Waving back at his teachers he stepped though and onto the south bank of the river in the middle of his home town.

Wondering up the high street Ritsuka thought about what things might have changed in his time away. He smirked viciously to himself thinking that although there were all these unknowns one thing was for sure Soubi was in for the shock of his life.

A/N: good? Okay? Really really bad? Let me know. If you want more review. Thanks to those that did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: still not with the owning**

It was two months since Ritsuka death and Soubi had begun to heal from it. He doubted that he would ever love again and he didn't trust himself but he wasn't dead. He still thought of him everyday, but he no linger ran up to every dark headed kid in the street, thinking that they might be him. He was finishing his art course soon and so had lot of other things to think and worry about.

The first thing Ritsuka did upon entering the high street was go to the local newsagent, he had no idea what date it was here, sure it had been a year for him but time runs differently on earth. He paid for the paper and looked at the date; if he hadn't been trained to show no facial expressions then his jaw would have dropped. It had only been two months, two months!!!!! He wondered for a second whether Soubi was still here then he remembered he didn't care about Soubi. Soubi had abandoned him when he had needed him; there was nothing that he could use as an excuse for that. Soubi had failed to protect him, from his mother of all people.

Ritsuka sighed; here he was again, back on sunny old earth. Hopefully this time he wouldn't die, not that anyone could kill him now with all the training he had had. Ritsuka knew he was virtually indestructible, and he had to be. His mission wasn't an easy one. There was no concept of earth time so he knew what the future held, not exactly because that would be extremely dull but the main events, and the different things that may or may not happen.

This was what he was here for, to prevent some of these events from taking place, like the end of the world for example. This was not the main thing he had to worry about yet though, the main thing that was bugging him at the moment was the very strong power signature moving towards him.

As he headed down a back alley so as to not endanger civilians the duo appeared in front of him.

''ah ha! A lone sacrifice, you know we could take your life now if we wanted to'' said the fighter of the pair menacingly.

''well I have no doubt you could try to, but you would lose'' Ritsuka replied whilst casually leaning against the wall next to him and slightly crossing his legs.

Both the fighter and sacrifice opposite him looked offended at the insinuation that they wouldn't beat this mere sacrifice.

'Ha, we shall see lone one, we shall see'

'This is a challenge to a spell battle' the fighter called out at a cue from his sacrifice.

Here we go then thought Ritsuka 'I accept the challenge'

Bewildered looks spread across the twos face before identical smirks appeared, obviously they thought that this was an easy win for them.

A/n

I am really sorry it's so short

lots of shit has happened, I am not going to explain it all but basically a friend killed himself which makes this hard to write. Oh my spell check is in welsh, don't know why but it is so sorry for mistakes. And I need a beta. Someone who will bug me to do this fanfic and will have ideas

Cos I have serious writers block


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer- don't own still

Ritsuka pushed himself off the wall as the familiar battle ground appeared. Moving into fighting stance he assessed the threat and power levels of the two in front of him.

The tallest of the pair, the fighter, was quite powerful but most of the strength came from the sacrifice, as was often the case. This sacrifice was nearly a fighter himself but with his determination to never give up, he could never have taken orders. Ritsuka continued to move into battle position and waited for his opponents to make the first move.

Somewhere miles away across town Soubi felt it.

The massive power surge which meant a battle had started, and not just any battle, one or both of the pairs in this one were extremely powerful. He tried to place the signature on either power but came up empty, meaning he hadn't fought either before, this wasn't good news as it meant there was a new player in town that Soubi was unaware of.

Finally locking on to at least a location for the source of the fighting he became worried almost immediately to discover it was by the shops in town, around many unarmed and unaware civilians. Leaving the art class subtly he started to sprint towards the power beacon. Praying that they were still threatening each other and the actually fighting hadn't yet commenced, he raced through crowds of startled onlookers.

The pair Ritsuka was fighting were in no hurry to start the fight they were sure they would win. Ritsuka however, was bored and was quickly getting tired of the witter of the other two.

Deciding that he didn't really want to stick around his arrogant opponents for longer than he had to, Ritsuka started the battle.

Sending ice bullets at the sacrifice the fighter banished them before turning and staring in shock, jaw hanging open at the "sacrifice" that had just attacked them. Luckily for them there sacrifices brain sprang into action better faster Ritsuka had expected and he snapped his fighter out of it long enough to produce retaliation. A flaming phoenix soared back at Ritsuka, who mearly blew an almost kiss at it, putting out all the flame and allowing the bird to fly free. Quickly, Ritsuka set up a protective dome and sent a silver wall at the sacrifice. Caught unawares the sacrifice fell to his knees, silver chains appearing on his wrists.

"How are you doing this?!" the sacrifice yelled as he stood back up, fighting against the chains.

"How can you fight?! You're a sacrifice! They don't fight!" the sacrifice struggled to explain to himself what Ritsuka was doing.

Ritsuka just smirked, they had underestimated him. Which admittedly was easy to do, he was still short, he still had his ears and he was alone but looks were misleading on Ritsuka.

Deciding that he had enough of these two he shot out four spells at once, taking down the sacrifice and the fighter at the same time. A combination of fire and ice flew at them touching but not destroying each other it was an impossible combination to fight. Having beaten the pair Ritsuka shut down the battle ground and walked out of the alleyway looking perfectly normal when he was bumped into by a familiar face.

Soubi carried on dashing through the crowds hitting a great many people but stopping for not one of them. He reached the busy town and stood in the centre of the street trying to narrow the location of the fight down further. 'Where is it, where is it?!' he thought frantically as he glanced the around the area.

"There!" he exclaimed out loud, rushing towards the dark back lane he knocked into a smaller body but he still didn't turn or stop, never seeing the supposedly dead object of his affections and the sole source of his depression give him a filthy and disgusted look.

Ritsuka realized it was Soubi the instant he knocked into him, hoping against hope that he wouldn't turn round, Ritsuka still couldn't help the emotions that rose up inside of him. He still had no explanation as to why Soubi had let him be murdered and he hated Soubi for lying to him about always being there. Shutting down his internal rants about how Soubi should have been there and wasn't Ritsuka pulled himself up off the floor and continued on his way, in search of a place to call home as he continued with the mission he had been sent here for. It was time Ritsu learned who was boss.

A/n-long time coming, sorry guys. To my beta, i have lost your email address. Very sorry again for the long wait, and for any mistakes, spell check is still in welsh.

Reviews are very much appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- again, don't own.**

Soubi ran into the alley, continually searching for the battle he was sure was happening. In his haste he glanced over a pile of what looked like clothes in the middle of the alley before he realized it for what it was; - two people. Two, rather badly beaten, people.

Kneeling down next to them he nearly jumped as he recognized their faces. He had never fought them but he knew the two.

They were a very powerful pair that had never lost a battle. Going by Helpless they were often underestimated. Yet here they lay, defeated, in the dust. Soubi grew very worried very quickly; he needed to know who they had been fighting as this could be very bad news for Earth if they weren't fighting for the side of good.

Lifting one onto each shoulder he carried the pair home through the back alleys of the town, knocking on the door as he got to the apartment he shared with Kio, who came to open it for him.

Kio had been sitting at home for about twenty minutes waiting for a sign from Soubi, he had been constantly worried about him for two months now, ever since Ritsukas' tragic death. It still bothered Kio that he could have done more so he couldn't even begin to imagine how bad Soubi must feel.

It was frustrating as well because Soubi was a master of his emotions, so they hardly ever showed on his face; the only time it happened was when Soubi broke down. The last time that had happened had been nine days ago. Kio had come home to find Soubi crying and shaking in the bath with a knife on the floor. As it turned out, Soubi sill hadn't got over Ritsukas' death no matter what he said to anyone.

Kio's thoughts and worries were interrupted by a sharp, single rap on the door. Springing up, he rushed to the door, thinking it could only be Soubi and that there must be something terribly wrong if he couldn't open the door himself. The sight that greeted him was something rather different from the Soubi hunched over in pain that he had expected. Soubi was hunched over but he appeared to be carrying two adolescent boys on his shoulders. Kio did a double take.

"Erm, Soubi?" Kio said.

"Back-lane, battle" replied Soubi as an explanation. Kio just nodded and moved swiftly to the bathroom to collect supplies for fixing the two young people up. Soubi had explained to Kio about fighters and sacrifices after the incident with both the male and the female Zero pairs staying in the apartment and one too many battles started in front of him.

Kio had quickly accepted the ideas and continued to support Soubi, even tidy him up after he had been in a battle. Kio had started noticing that he would now come home with more and more injuries, this was partly why he was worried when Soubi had run off earlier, he seemed to go off in hunt of someone to beat him badly enough that he just wouldn't come home. Kio, lost in thought, started when Soubi voice rand out.

"Kio, where are you with those bandages?!"

Quickly springing back into action Kio ran less than elegantly back to Soubi and the two others who had been placed on separate sofas. Kio started to tend to the first as Soubi assessed what had happened to them.

Soubi stood over the first and after decided he was going to live he started to think about the injuries, what he was seeing just didn't make sense. Confused, Soubi started muttering under his breath and Kio listened in intently, keen to know what was going on.

"Burns- from fire. Not unusual, but frostbite marks, that's ice, fire and ice...they don't mix, no pair has control over fire and ice, and what's this, whiplash? That's wind. Fire, ice and wind? That really isn't possible!! They must have been in more than one fight, but why get into them if you are injured?" As he was murmuring and pondering Kio realized something, he waited for Soubi to stop in his flow of thought before he pointed it out.

"Soubi?" Kio asked tentatively, before waiting for Soubi to register that Kio wanted his attention,

"Yes?" came the reply ten seconds later "what?"

"well, I was thinking..." Kio started nervously, afraid of being wrong, "normally one person takes all the damage, but here, although one has more, they both have burn marks and ice burn marks, what's that about?"

Soubi thought for a second before looking at the pair to confirm what Kio was saying. He was shocked to see that Kio was right.

"You're right!" he said out loud.

"No need to sound so surprised" Kio said pulling a face. The edges of Soubi's mouth turned up, Kio smiled, that was as close to happy as Soubi ever came these days.

After tending to the pair Kio and Soubi sat in the kitchen.

"So, why'd you bring them back?" Kio asked bluntly.

"I don't know, they just looked so…" Soubi didn't finish his sentence but Kio already knew.

Soubi couldn't bear to see any young person in pain where he could help; ever since Ritsuka died he couldn't leave someone who was hurt, all the viciousness had gone out of him.

"But I want to know what happened to them now." Soubi's continuation of his sentence surprised Kio somewhat; Soubi wasn't one for conversation anymore.

"What, you mean you didn't…"

"No, I would never, I couldn't, I" Soubi seemed lost in thought by the end of this sentence, Kio had no doubt it was focused on one little dark haired child.

Jealously welled up inside of him, he knew Soubi loved Ritsuka but why couldn't he love Kio? He was just as good. It shouldn't take this long to get over his death, Soubi should have moved on by now! Kio caught his own thoughts and was shocked, had he really just thought that, he felt sick.

Thankfully a distraction provided itself in the shape of noise coming from the next room. Jumping up Kio rushed into the next room as though he could leave the thought he had been having in the other room and never think them again, of course, it's never that simple.

Kio knelt next to the stirring child and smiled at him as his eyes opened.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Kio asked as Soubi stood over and behind him.

"Pretty fucking bad" the young man stated, "you would too" Kio put his hands up in a surrendering position and backed up,

"I was only asking" he defended himself.

"What happened?" asked Soubi calmly; ignoring the evil glares now passing between the only other conscious people in the room.

"Me and Koukei, wait! KOUKEI!!!" the as yet un-named fighter sprang to his feet and looked around for his sacrifice. Spotting him on the sofa he ran over and fell to his knees in front of him. Although the fighter looked bad, he was fine in comparison to Koukei, the male on the second sofa. The kneeling male took his hand and started to whisper in his ear.

Kio and Soubi just watched as the fighter tried to bring the sacrifice round, Kio went to move forward and demand an explanation when Soubi reached out and put a hand on his chest to stop him, Kio glanced at Soubi who shook his head. Soubi knew they would get nothing out of the fighter until the sacrifice was better. The amount of concern that the fighter was showing, although it was nice, it worried Soubi as the reason the fighter was hurt couldn't be a lack of trust or affection between them. Kio caught sight of Soubi's face and began to worry; he looked ever so slightly scared.

Ritsuka sighed as he laid his bed. "Well it wasn't technically his bed was it?" Ritsuka thought to himself, earlier he had checked himself into the cheapest hotel he could find. Not because he was short of cash but because that way he would be hard to trace, the hotel, if you could call it that, hadn't even asked for his name yet.

Staring at the ceiling Ritsuka thought about the talk in front of him. To bring down Ritsu, who although wasn't part of the biggest group Septimal Moon still had a massive network of people, he even had Soubi under his control, which meant that some time it the future Ritsuka knew he was going to have to fight Soubi as Soubi would never pick him over Ritsu. It scared Ritsuka; he didn't know if he could defeat someone he once loved, oh who was he kidding? He still loved Soubi. Even if he had betrayed him to the point Ritsuka would never forgive him, he still loved him.

It was a huge task that was laid out in front of the young male, he had been through a lot, hell he had died but this, this was bigger than any of that, and it was going to take all of his mental and physical power to get it done. Sighing deeply, Ritsuka thought about his plan of action. He had already disguised his power before coming to earth so no one he didn't want to see, like Soubi, could find him. Deciding that he would sleep before doing anything else today, he checked to see if the two he had been fighting earlier were still alive before settling down to sleep.

Across the other side of town, Soubi felt something.

It was a weird kind of probing sensation, like someone was scanning him inside and outside, but it quickly moved on. The power also felt familiar but different. Soubi couldn't quite work it out. Thinking that he might be able to remember after a good night's sleep, he looked round to door to check on the Helpless pair in the next room: they were lying down the fighter curled around the still unconscious sacrifice. Smiling softly he slide the screen across and went to lie on his own bed. Drifting off quickly into the same nightmare he had every night, always the same, ending with that scream. That haunting scream.

A/n- it may have been a while, but this is very long. Think of it as a sorry for the last couple of chapters. Also again, spell-check is in Welsh. Point out any mistakes to moi. Thanks. Reviews are, as always, appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- Don't own. Sad, but true.

The next morning Ritsuka felt fully rested and left the room he had rented with a solid plan in mind. To take down Ritsu he had to get into his house, and to get into his house he had to have the security and layout plans and to get the security and layout plans he had to know where to go and for that he had to go to the places underground that could tell him.

Walking down the high street he decided that for today, he would just scout the area and find out about things that went on here, he would just sit tight and listen for the time being.

Heading down the nearest back road he stopped and checked his appearance. His body had aged along with his mind in the training grounds, although and wounds he had obtained there hadn't scared the one from his mother had. He now appeared about sixteen years old and with a small application of makeup he upped that to nineteen.

Continuing down the alley he entered the first club he came across and settled down in a corner to observe the happenings of its everyday life. Decided that this might take a while he concealed himself behind some boxes, made sure he was comfortable and settled down for a long wait.

Soubi woke with a start, screaming still echoing in his ears. He shook his head. This was his never ending torture for failing in his duty. It haunted him every day, though he knew how to hide it, he didn't want or need Kio's constant fussing.

Moving towards the kitchen to get some breakfast he stuck his head into the living room to see what the Helpless pair were up to. But he needn't have bothered checking, they were both fast asleep and not likely to cause any trouble any time soon.

Kio woke to the smell of freshly cooked food, not being fully awake he followed his instincts that took him straight to it and Soubi, who was lost in thought. Being slightly more awake by now Kio took the opportunity to study Soubi when he didn't have his "it's-all-fine-I'm-completely-fine" mask on. He didn't like what he saw. Soubi still wasn't over Ritsuka's death! At this rate Soubi would never notice him, damn that child! Kio realized again what he was thinking and was disgusted with himself, quickly snatching up his food and going to the living room to check on the pair from last night.

Kio slid open the door just as the sacrifice was stirring, the one he knew to be Koukei.

"Hey", Kio started, "how are you feeling? I can't imagine it's too great."

The sacrifice focused his sleepy eyes on him, taking in what he said before scanning the room for possible dangers. Upon spotting his fighter he pulled him closer into his side. Scanning his body to see if anything was wrong. After satisfying that he was OK, Koukei answered the strange man at the edge of the room.

"Yeah, I feel alright considering. \what happened?"

Kio started at the sudden answer to his question; after he had first been ignored he hadn't been expecting one. Especially given the hospitality of the fighter the previous night.

"Erm well, we were hoping you could tell us" Soubi spoke up from behind Kio; he had come out of his thoughts on the kitchen when he had heard Kio speak.

The sacrifice looked confused before answering, "well we, as in umasuki" he said this indicating the fighter that sat next to him " and myself, were trying to get a little power for ourselves, you know how it is", he looked pointedly at Soubi, who raised an eyebrow, he wasn't aware he had met this pair before. The sacrifice laughed at his expression answering it by saying that Soubi was famous in certain circles. Kio, bored by the sidetrack told the sacrifice to continue and took a seat across from him.

The sacrifice leaned back against the sofa and started up again.

"Well we felt this new power enter the area, out of nowhere, I mean it literally just appeared. So we figured it was a new pair and that they would be an easy win. We wouldn't have killed them, just minor things until they had to surrender. But they went down a back alley, should make it easier right? Well we thought so too. As we got there I thought something was slightly off, and it was, there was only one of them. But again, that should just have made it easier, fighters aren't used to the pain and can't fight if they have to take it and sacrifices can't fight full stop. Easy yes?" he seemed to be looking to Soubi for reassurance, Soubi nodded.

"But something was off, he was really cocky, like he could beat us without trying, and

After he started the battle-which again was weird- but hell it was an easy win, who were we to question it. It was then that things went bad."

Kio, who had been riveted by the story telling gasped out-loud, Soubi, rolled his eyes at him.

"You see, turns out, he didn't need a fighter, or a sacrifice, he was both."

"What?!" Soubi exclaimed. That wasn't possible! It just wasn't!

The sacrifice grimaced, "I know, he tore us apart, he just was. We didn't even touch him. Everything we did got turned back on us; there was no way we could have won."

Soubi looked grave, the implications of someone with this much power were unthinkable, and what if they were on the wrong side? It wouldn't bring good things for Soubi. And why were they here? What did they want? Questions rushed through Soubis' head.

This could be very bad news.

Ritsuka was bored. No, he was past bored. Nothing was happening. Nothing had been happening. Nothing even vaguely like something happening had happened. He checked his watch; he'd been there four minutes.

"Damn" he muttered to himself, he was going to be bored for a long time.

Soubi decided that he needed to find out everything he could about this character that had appeared out of nowhere. He needed to know who they were, what they looked like and what the hell they wanted. For this he needed to start asking. There was nothing more Helpless could tell him yet, at least not until the fighter woke up and that could be a long time. 'I'm going crazy being trapped inside; I could well be doing something useful.' He thought mutinously to himself. Ever since Ritsuka...had gone, Soubi co9uolddnt bring himself to say he was dead, even inside his own head; Soubi had to be helping if it was at all possible for him to do so. And sitting around at home was not helping.

Jumping up from his position on the rug Soubi instructed Kio to ask more about the battle to the fighter if and when he woke up before heading out the front door to check out local underground clubs. Surely someone had to know something about this new presence in town.

Kio watched Soubi leave. He hated it when he left without saying where he was going. Kio called out asking when Soubi would be back, frowning when he didn't get a reply, not that he was expecting one of course but one time he'd like to be proved wrong. Soubi had a new goal to focus on, something new to stop him dealing with Ritsuka's death and his part in it. Kio was on the brink of exploding in temper. Deciding yelling at them probably wasn't the best way to win the new pairs trust he left to his room to paint away his anger.

Soubi started out along the high street, heading for the first place he knew the un-identified male had been. Standing in the alley he thought about what he would do if he were new in town. He'd book into a hotel. But that wasn't going to be any help to him, people booked into those every day and the person he was after could be any one of hundreds. No the only way to find out any information was to go with his first plan and that was too ask around. It was a bit risky as he may end up drawing attention to himself rather than finding anything but it was worth it. He needed to know if this person was here for good or evil reasons.

Walking to the most used underground club he stopped in the alley. Something was watching him. Turning slowly on the spot he scanned the area. No life forms in view. Did that mean someone was spying on him? No, he was being paranoid, this was a highly coveted club, and someone was probably keeping an eye on the comings and goings of it.

Dismissing the eerie feeling as an over-reaction he knocked on the door, muttered the password and entered.

Ritsuka was more bored than he had been before. No one had come or gone so far today and it had been an hour. Surely someone had to come or go at one point. Almost as though his thoughts had conjured up such an event a silhouette appeared at the end of the alley. Peering at them he stifled a gasp as recognizing Soubi. 'Twice in two days! Just my luck.' he thought to himself. He thanked heaven that he had masked any power that had obviously attracted the pair yesterday. Watching Soubi stop and look around, Ritsuka panicked in his head, would Soubi see him? He wasn't ready to fight him yet! But Soubi just moved forward to the door.

Ritsuka listened closely and almost jumped for joy as he discerned the password over the rabble coming from the high street. He watched Soubi enter the club and sat back on his haunches. He didn't know whether or not to go in. On the one hand the sooner he got started with his task the sooner he could complete it which was good but on the other hand, he might run into Soubi.

Ritsuka recalled some wise words from one of his teachers.

"You have to face your fears, running and hiding will only mean you are not prepared when they catch up with you"

Ritsuka definitely feared meeting Soubi. He decided after some deliberation that he had to face his fear now, rather than later. Nodding to himself, he stood.

Soubi sat at the bar, he inquired about a new power to the barman, who hadn't heard anything. That was one major source of information gone, if anyone knew something it would be the barman, he heard everything that went on in this room, even things that weren't said openly. He pondered what to do next as the door to the club opened behind him causing light to spill across his back.

Ritsuka muttered the password and tried to adjust his eyes quickly as he entered the dark room. He immediately knew which of these people Soubi was. He was the one sitting at the bar. Facing away from him, an inexplicable rage was caused by this small fact. 'Soubi. Was. Facing. Away. From. Him.' He felt the sudden urge to hurt Soubi as much as Soubi had hurt him. But quickly clamped down on that emotion he didn't want to draw that much attention to himself that quickly. Still standing just inside the door he made a snap decision, he was going to shock Soubi, this was one thing he wouldn't have seen coming. Marching towards the bar he sat down and ordered a drink not looking at Soubi.

Soubi was still trying to come up with a plan as to what to do next when someone sat down next to him. Turning slowly towards them he was surprised to see a man in his late teens who appeared to still have his ears. The stranger turned to him. Soubi thought he saw something in his eyes but quickly decided he must have imagined it. Suddenly Soubi felt an odd sense of déjà vu, he knew that face. Something about it was very familiar. But he couldn't quite place it. Something wasn't clicking somewhere. He couldn't make the connection.

Ritsuka turned to Soubi, expected some kind of shock. There was nothing. He flashed with red hot anger. Soubi was just looking at him in confusion.

"Don't remember me eh Soubi?" he said with some viciousness looking straight into his eyes.

Inside Soubi's head, it clicked.

A/n- Meh, not my best, but let me know what you think please. Partly for Nina Neglection, happy birthday for the 9th.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Kio stopped his vicious painting when he heard movement from the next room. Putting down his brush he looked at what he had created, it was a dark swirling mess of strokes, each one searing into the next; all the hateful and angry emotions inside of him displayed on one page.

Kio blinked quickly and looked away before he could get too caught up in his feelings. Remembering the reason he stopped working Kio headed for the main room in the house.

Kio rounded the corner, stood in the doorway to the living room and sighed.

He sighed again.

He sighed a third time.

Upon deciding that all this sighing was useless and getting him nowhere he moved into the view of the miscreants in the living room. He knew leaving them alone was a bad idea, kids these days.

Both of the young boys were running about which Kio considered quite amazing given their conditions yesterday. It seemed both were just running on the happiness they felt at seeing the other alive. Kio almost smiled before he realized how much of a mess they had caused.

"CHILDREN, SIT.DOWN.NOW!" he yelled.

Both koukei and Umasuki jumped at the sudden noise and scuttled to sit down on the sofa. Kio sighed lightly, he shouldn't have been that quick to snap at them, after all they were only children; he didn't know what was getting into him these days.

"Anybody for some food?" he tried as way of an apology, the kids faces lit up and they nodded vigorously,

"Well let's see what we can create then shall we?" Kio suggested leading the two into the kitchen; at least he could monitor whatever disaster they created now.

Soubi knew. It was Ritsuka.

It was his Ritsuka. He was alive. All the changes that had happened to Ritsuka didn't even register in Soubi's head, nothing registered except that this was what he had been looking for, this was what had been missing out of his life, and he jumped up and pulled Ritsuka towards him.

Ritsuka saw Soubi make the connection and was slightly confused by the ecstatic expression on his face, partly because Soubi didn't show expression and partly because surely if he cared enough to be happy to see him, Soubi would have come to help him when he needed him most. The confusion lead Ritsuka to pay less attention to Soubi and therefore he didn't notice him stand and move towards him until Soubi was right on top of him, squeezing him tightly.

Ritsuka did not like it, one bit, or so he told himself. But that didn't stop him forcing Soubi away with all his strength.

Soubi flew backwards and only thanks to much training managed not to land embarrassingly on his ass however he could not regain his balance and stay standing so was on the floor anyway.

"What..." Soubi said confused, looking up at Ritsuka with a hurt puppy expression.

"Don't touch me" Ritsuka hissed viciously with a face showing hatred.

Only then did Soubi realize how cold Ritsuka had been to him since he had entered. Something wasn't right.

"Have you forgotten? Of course you have." Ritsuka muttered hatefully, "you left me Soubi, you weren't there"

Soubi's guilt came crashing back down around him, what had happened to Ritsuka? Obviously it wasn't as bad as he thought before, he had survived hadn't he? He still felt guilt over the fact he had obviously been hurt which was Soubis fault but part of him was elated that he wasn't responsible for his death.

"I'm sorry" Soubi said, he didn't bother covering the hurt he was feeling at being rejected, "I should have been there, I should have stopped her, I should have..." he tailed off into thought as he had done many times before on many sleepless nights.

Ritsuka exploded in anger for the second time in ten minutes but this time he had more control. He knew Soubi thought that Ritsuka being alive meant he hadn't been killed. He was not prepared to let go of that information at the moment.



Staring straight into Soubis' eyes he replied

"I hate you" before turning and moving swiftly out of the bar.

Soubi heard the words and reeled as though from a physical blow, the look in Ritsukas' eyes told him that he wasn't making it up, the look of disgust and loathing in them had killed a bit of Soubi. His vision blurred with tears he refused to shed before he noticed that he could only see the back of Ritsuka and that most of the bar had gone silent through there argument and were now looking at him, standing he ran towards the door thinking that he could catch up with Ritsuka. Bursting out of the door and into the alley he felt the rain on his head as he scanned the darkening evening for any sign of Ritsuka but nothing came to him, how had he moved so fast?

Ritsuka moved quickly out of the bar and away from the entrance, Soubi would be coming to find him very soon he needed a place to hide, somewhere he would never think to look. Ritsuka saw nothing around him only buildings, buildings...that's it! He ran straight at a wall, jumped and pushed himself of it onto the roof opposite. Sitting watching the entrance to the bar he spotted Soubi come out and look around, upon not being able to find him Ritsuka smirked, Soubi-nil Ritsuka – one. He was going to enjoy this. Seeing Soubi hadn't been as bad as Ritsuka thought it would be, it hadn't hurt that much, maybe he had just cut off too much of himself to feel anything but anger any more.

Pondering this lightly Ritsuka noticed it was raining, 'oh crap, I need to learn to control that' he scolded himself.

Deciding that actually it would be quite useful to know where Soubi would be so he could avoid him thoroughly he started off on the way Soubi had disappeared just a few metres above him.

Soubi walked in through his front door to utter chaos; given the mind set he was currently in he assumed the worst, that his home had been attacked, before the sounds of giggles drifted towards him from out of the kitchen.

If he had thought the living room was bad the kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it and sitting in the middle of it all was Kio, tied to a chair with what he could only assume were mystical ropes conjured by one of the two terrors currently hiding behind the counter. The sight brought warm feelings to Soubi's heart and dampened the hurt he felt from earlier. Waving his hand, he set Kio free who prominently stormed out; apparently he had taken the small smile on Soubi's face to be him laugh at Kio.

"Come out" Soubi said in a firm voice

One of the children appeared slowly over the top of the counter,

"Now we have been very kind in taking you in and this is how you treat Kio? That is not good manners, you must go and apologize and then you will clean up." Soubi told them with an air of finality. The teens scuttled away with their heads bowed, they wouldn't dare to go against Soubi, even though they were so young they had heard of his legendary power. Soubi moved to his own bedroom and was again left alone with his thoughts, he stared out of the window into the oncoming blackness that exuded foreboding and promised himself that he would find Ritsuka and discover what had actually happened between him and his mother.

Ritsuka paused at the edge of a rooftop as a familiar building was within sight, so Soubi hadn't moved. That was good news; it meant Ritsuka already knew the area pretty well. He situated himself at an angle to the building to see into what he could only assume was the kitchen, it was very hard to tell; the entire place looked like a stampede had gone through it. He saw Soubi enter and untie Kio, who he was quite pleased to see alive. Then he noticed some more movement out of the corner of his eye, Soubi had a child there, another child. Ritsuka turned away as anger boiled inside of him, he hadn't been close enough to see who the person was but they had black hair and no ears. No ears. Had Soubi finally found someone who wouldn't turn him down? Had Soubi made this black haired child loose his ears? Was he, Ritsuka, jealous? No, that wasn't it, it couldn't be. Ritsuka wandered back across the houses failing, in his anger to turn back to see two small figures and not one.

a/n sorry its so late! Please don't hate me. Reviews are welcome and they do buck me into shape about writing it. Thanks to chrono-contract for kicking my ass in gear and monzieslilneji for the lovely review. Till next time, which will be soon don't worry.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer; don't own it, but that'd be nice...

Ritsuka sat in the run down motel and decided that enough was enough; he really needed to start paying more attention to his mission and less to mucking about in his own personal life. Now taking down Ritsu would prove difficult he knew. Ritsu had so many layers of protection around him that it was unlikely that he would be able to get anywhere quickly. However, this was what he had been sent here for and he may as well get a start on it. First things first, find out where Ritsu had headquarters of his nasty little empire.

Ritsu sat back in his chair, it had been a while since he had heard of anyone he wanted to train, word was that there was fresh blood on the streets, and even if the rumours said that this person was already well trained, Ritsu felt sure he could find something to offer him, I mean after all, who didn't want something from Ritsu. Calling through the heavy door he waited for his second to come through, of course he would have preferred to have that sparkling example of a creature, Soubi, as his right hand but seeing as he disagreed with the way things were run this was the way it had to be.

Ritsuka continued to stare at the dank stained wall as though hoping it would point out the answers to his current problem, it didn't but that didn't stop him staring. After what felt like a day but could have been no more than a few minutes Ritsuka decided that he needed to buck his ideas up. Getting to Ritsu would involve infiltrating his organisation, which meant finding it and the only person he knew that knew Ritsu was Soubi, which meant he had to get him to lead him there. Therein lay his problem. The only possible way would be to follow him, as under no circumstances was Ritsuka prepared to enter into any kind of truce. Now he needed a way to plant the idea of seeing Ritsu into Soubi's head.

Soubi sat in his room, staring at a wall that was much cleaner than the one that Ritsuka was looking at half way across town. He was sorting through the events of the previous few days. It was so strange. Soubi was still burning to know where Ritsuka had been over the past few months. A tiny ray of something appeared in Soubi's chest. Hope.

Ritsuka had decided on a plan of action by mid-morning, he had even started and was now standing looking in on Soubi's house again. Moving around the buildings surrounding it, he tried to find the best possible angle to look inside.

'Spying? One could hardly call it that, investigating; was what it was' Ritsuka thought fervently.

Soubi felt a prickle on his neck; it was the felling he got whenever someone was watching him and turning he was proved correct in trusting his senses as he saw the two young people he had taken in standing at the door.

"Soubi?" the first asked quietly,

"Yes child?" Soubi answered slowly whilst subtly asserting his power over them.

"Well, this person, the only who attacked us, we don't want to meet them again" both shook their heads quickly with fear in their eyes, "so, can you disguise us or something? We don't want to be cooped up."



Soubi nodded and beckoned the children towards him, he changed minor things in their appearance, little enough so they could still recognize themselves but big enough so they couldn't be recognized if you hadn't seen them every day.

Ritsuka settled himself on a different roof to yesterday as he quickly discovered that said roof as perhaps the worst he could have chosen. This particular one allowed him a view of part of the kitchen, most of the living room and Kio's room where he could see Kio sleeping fitfully. Sitting down comfortably he waited for what he presumed would be a long and uneventful day watching the happenings of the people below. About half an hour after he had started 'investigating' the household Ritsuka spotted movement in the living room, the black haired child from yesterday had appeared. Anger welled again inside him, it was uncontrollable his faced creased into a grotesque reflection of his suddenly black thoughts. This time Ritsuka took a few moments to study the intruders face, he looked very similar to how Ritsuka had looked before he died. It bothered Ritsuka more than he would admit that Soubi had found a replacement for him so quickly.

"Koukei!"

The call resounded through the fairly average sized house, Umasuki was yelling for his sacrifice.

"What?!" came the shout back.

"I'm going out; I'll be back in about twenty minutes, going for skittles".

Soubi thought on it for a second, he didn't need the disguise to fall through because Umasuki was recognized so butted in at that moment,

"Be careful to take the back streets, you're less likely to run into anyone you know there".

A yell confirming that Umasuki would follow said advice followed.

Koukei grinned to himself from inside the bathroom, those skittles we're the only down fall of his beloved Umasuki, he was a powerful fighter and yet, offer him skittles and you had absolute control. Koukei continued to giggle to himself as he got into the shower.

Ritsuka saw the much hated black haired child leave the building; maybe he didn't live there and had just come for the night? The implications that this option entailed brought more rage into Ritsuka's dark eyes. Debating internally Ritsuka decided that watching the house wasn't getting him anywhere and maybe following the kid would. His eyes narrowed and darkened yet further as he prowled along above the shadow below, 'who did this kid think he was? No-one could replace him! How dare anyone try!" yet more anger built inside of him, even though he knew this was not a good idea.

Umasuki hummed as he walked through the backstreets, he wasn't really concentrating on anything except for the fastest route to his skittles and jumped as a figure jumped in front of him.

Rage had finally exploded in Ritsuka. Far beyond what he could handle rationally. This child, who thought he could take Soubi from him needed to be punished!



Umasuki backed away from the dark, ominous figure before him. As he emerged from the shadows he appeared to be a young man but the expression on his face was what caught Umasuki's attention, it told him he wasn't going to enjoy this encounter.

"You think you're better than me huh? Well you're going to pay for that thought" Ritsuka yelled just before he flew at Umasuki. He hit him in the face as deflected the poor defence. Ritsuka hit the boy to the floor and pinned him down with one leg either side of his waist. He pounded on the face that vaguely resembled his own. Beating it down. Away.

Ritsuka hit until he had no more anger to fight away.

Then he looked down.

His jaw dropped in horror at what he'd done.

The broken person beneath him.

Tears slipped down his face.

A/n, thanks for all the reviews, more with any opinion are welcome. Tell me what you think.


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